As is well known, refrigeration equipment (e.g., a refrigerator) is equipped with space for holding foods at a low temperature above or below the freezing point of water, and which may be divided into a refrigerating compartment, the interior of which is kept above the freezing point, and a freezing compartment, the interior of in which is kept below the freezing point, according to a low temperature range.
In recent times, with increased demand for purified water and ice in the home, the demand for refrigeration equipment in which a water purifier and an ice maker are formed integrally with each is also increasing. The aforementioned ice maker may be installed in any one of the freezing compartment, the refrigerating compartment, or a door thereof, depending on the design of the refrigeration equipment.
Further, the ice maker may include an ice making tray containing water to be used to make ice and an ice bucket for storing (keeping) the ice transferred from the ice making tray.
In the ice maker, cold air flowing in the ice maker through a cooling duct is used to turn the water contained in the ice making tray into ice. For this, a cooling duct structure for a cold air channel is located between the freezing compartment and the ice maker, and a ventilator for ventilating the cold air in the freezing compartment toward the ice maker is installed at one side (end) of the cooling duct structure.
However, the conventional method for making ice using the cold air from the freezing compartment inflowing through the cooling duct results in a relatively long ice making time, which causes dissatisfaction among users of the refrigeration equipment.
In addition, the ice stored in the ice bucket may melt due to a change in temperature in the ice maker. As a result, the melted ice in the ice bucket is frozen together with nearby ice, which may inconvenience a user.